Akalenedat
by aragornwen
Summary: Companion to Aliit Ori'shya Taldin. Rana doesn't like strill at all.


"OW!"

The toy saber thudded to the dirt floor of the sparring ring as Keb shook her aching hand. "Good stars, Ran, do you have to hit so hard?"

"Would you rather I held back on you?" Rana's voice was slightly apologetic as she flipped Keb's saber into the air with the toe of her boot. She grabbed for it, missed, and as it hit the dirt again, Keb shook her head.

"Never mind. I'll get it myself."

Rana frowned. "I did it yesterday. I've been practicing. Jus can do it!"

Keb grinned, flipping her blonde braid back over her shoulder. "You liiiiiiike him, don't you?"

"No!" Rana punched her friend's arm. "He just, um…"

"Is haaaaaandsome, and you liiiiike him!" Keb scooped the short sword up and danced out of arm's reach, sticking out her tongue.

Rana made a face. "Boys are stupid. I don't either like Jus."

Keb's reply was cut off as a woman's voice rang out. "KEBII'TRA! FRONT AND CENTER!"

"Oooh, what'd you do now?" Rana grinned. "Your mother sounds mad…"

"No, it's just Ba'vodu Kalik." Keb stuffed the saber back through her belt and started trudging back through the long grass. "Mama's brother. She hasn't seen him in a long time, and she said I have to come say hello." She brushed at the grass stains on her tunic and frowned. "I think I was supposed to keep this clean."

Rana inspected the stain. "Oh, it's not that bad. She might not even notice."

Keb looked skeptical, wrinkling her freckled nose. "She notices everything. That rip in my pants that I got when we were playing Mand'alor and _aruetiise_, that you also said she'd never notice? She made _me_ sew it up."

Rana raised her eyebrows. "She did? _Wayii_. Not even Ruusaan tries to make me sew."

"That's because you couldn't sew a straight line if your life depended on it, _ner vod_."

"I can shoot a straight line, though! What are you going to do in a battle, stab the enemy with a needle?" Rana stopped dead, staring. "Wow. Look at that!" A sleek teal starfighter was sitting near Keb's house, hull emblazoned with a mythosaur skull and pair of jaig eyes in dull orange. "It's gorgeous!" She sprinted over to get a better look. "Isn't this the new Flamethrower model? What I wouldn't give to pilot one of these _cyar'ike_."

"It is a beauty, isn't it?" Rana flinched, whirling around at the sound of Jus's voice. He laughed. "_Udesii_, Ran'ika. Keb, your _buir_'s in the house." He eyed the ship appreciatively. "I think it is a Flamethrower. They cleaned up her lines a bit, and look at those cannons! Double the Headhunter's caliber."

Keb made an exaggerated kissy face at Rana before running for the house. Rana scowled at her, but turned back to the fighter. "I never liked the Headhunter anyway," she said, stretching out one arm to run a finger over the hull. A curious rumble made her look up, into a pair of golden eyes. The strangest-looking animal she had ever seen was sprawled half-in, half-out of the cockpit. "Whoa!" she said, backing up abruptly. "What in the name of Mandalore the Indomitable is _that_ thing?"

Jus gazed up at it thoughtfully. "I think it's a strill. Never seen one before."

Rana curled her lip. "It smells."

Jus gave her an amused glance. "So do you."

"I do not!" Rana said indignantly, glaring up at him. "Not as bad as that thing, anyway." She looked back up at it. "Must belong to Keb's relative. I wonder what its name is."

Jus shrugged. "Why don't you ask it?"

Rana rolled her eyes. "It doesn't _talk_, _dinii_."

"How do you know?" He arched an eyebrow challengingly. "Ask it."

"No! You ask, since you're such an expert," she fired back.

"You're scared to do it," he said, grinning.

"Am not! I'm not afraid of anything." Rana scowled and returned her gaze to the animal, holding up her hand. "Hey! Yeah, you! What's your name?"

The strill stood and padded over to the edge, staring down at her curiously. "You have to be more polite than that," Jus said amusedly.

"You do it then," she snapped, but softened her tone. "What's your name?" she called again. The strill whined softly, then leapt off the starfighter, gliding gently to the ground on the loose flaps of skin between its legs. Rana jumped back a pace. "What the- oh, that's interesting."

It advanced on her, ears pricked in interest. Rana held out the back of her hand, fighting the urge to back away. "Nice thing. Good animal. It's not answering, Jus."

The strill sniffed at her hand, then licked it enthusiastically. Rana curled her lip, wiping the drool off on her tunic. "Gross."

"Bet it's the salt in your sweat," Jus commented idly. "You taste good."

"Oh, well, _that's_ comforting!" she snapped, as the strill suddenly jumped up, placing its front paws on her shoulders and dragging its tongue across her face. She yelped and tried to back away, but tripped and went sprawling on her back with the strill on top of her. She curled into a defensive ball and tried to roll away, but the strill followed, licking every inch of exposed skin it could find.

Jus leaned weakly against the starfighter, laughing uproariously as Rana tried to get away from the strill. She finally managed to scramble to her feet and jumped into a nearby landspeeder, glaring at Jus. "_Chakaar_. Thanks for nothing!"

Jus wiped his eyes. "Language, Ran'ika. _Kih'parjai_."

She scowled furiously, scrubbing at her face with the hem of her tunic. "I'll see you in the circle one day, see if I don't."

"Ah, Ran, no harm done. If you can't take a joke…"

Jus was quite surprised that someone Rana's age knew a gesture that rude.


End file.
